Race course alters for this year's Shamrock Run

Nicholas Lisi / The Post-StandardThe start of the 5th annual Tipperary Hill Shamrock Run in 2011 in Syracuse. The runners are running along Coleridge Ave. located just outside Burnet Park on the city's west end. Some 3,000 runners participated in the neighborhood run.

"I like it, because it simply intensifies everything there is to love about what's already a challenging and evocative course," Kirst writes.

The 4-mile Shamrock Run takes place 11 a.m. March 5, a Saturday, at Burnet Park. Register for $20 through Feb. 26. After that, it's $30. The first 2,500 to sign up are guaranteed a tech t-shirt. A .6-mile "fun run" course for kids ages 5 to 12, is $5. It takes place at 10 a.m.

"If you're planning to run the Mountain Goat, our hills will provide the perfect training run. It's also a fun and healthful way to kick off your St. Patrick's Day celebration. Join us on an exhilarating run through historic Tipperary Hill," the Shamrock web site says.

Instead of starting the race with a lap of Burnet Park, organizers have created a course that starts with a fast and gentle downhill on Avery Avenue.

"That should quickly spread out the pack, and the instinct will be to go out very hard. That instinct, however, should be tempered with wisdom: The climactic portions of the race now wind past St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Church, a change that roughly doubles the climb up what was always a hellacious hill near the end," Kirst writes. "The course has never been a cupcake, and that will be truer than ever this year."